Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a dramatic late winner to help Arsenal edge past Benfica into the last 16 of the Europa League.
In a ‘home’ leg played at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Greece because of Covid-19 restrictions, Aubameyang opened the scoring to give the Gunners a 2-1 aggregate lead.
Diogo Goncalves levelled for Benfica just before the break with a superb free-kick after Dani Ceballos had needlessly fouled Julian Weigl.
The Spanish midfielder compounded that error after the interval with a poor defensive header that saw Rafa Silva race clear to put the visitors in front.
With Arsenal needing two goals to advance because of the away goals rule, Kieran Tierney’s low drive set up a grandstand finish before Aubameyang rescued the tie.
Mikel Arteta’s side will discover their last-16 opponents in Friday’s draw in Nyon (12:00 GMT).
More to follow.
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Benfica
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Squad number77Player nameHelton Leite
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Squad number4Player nameLucas Verissimo
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Squad number30Player nameOtamendi
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Squad number5Player nameVertonghen
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Squad number17Player nameDiogo Gonçalves
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Squad number21Player namePizzi
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Squad number28Player nameWeigl
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Squad number49Player nameTaarabt
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Squad number3Player nameGrimaldo
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Squad number27Player nameRafa
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Squad number14Player nameSeferovic
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Squad number7Player nameEverton
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Squad number8Player nameGabriel Pires
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Squad number9Player nameNúñez
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Squad number10Player nameWaldschmidt
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Squad number71Player nameTavares
Line-ups
Arsenal
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Leno
- 2BellerínSubstituted forLacazetteat 78′minutes
- 23David Luiz
- 6Gabriel
- 3Tierney
- 8CeballosSubstituted forParteyat 63′minutes
- 34Xhaka
- 7SakaSubstituted forChambersat 90′minutes
- 11ØdegaardSubstituted forElnenyat 90′minutes
- 32Smith RoweSubstituted forWillianat 63′minutes
- 14Aubameyang
Substitutes
- 9Lacazette
- 12Willian
- 17Cédric Soares
- 18Partey
- 19Pépé
- 21Chambers
- 22Marí
- 25Elneny
- 30Nketiah
- 33Ryan
- 35Martinelli
- 44Hein
Benfica
Formation 3-5-2
- 77Aleixo Leite
- 4Verissimo da Silva
- 30Otamendi
- 5Vertonghen
- 17Cupido Goncalves
- 21Afonso FernandesSubstituted forSousa Soaresat 58′minutes
- 28WeiglSubstituted forWaldschmidtat 90′minutes
- 49TaarabtBooked at 5minsSubstituted forAppelt Piresat 58′minutes
- 3GrimaldoSubstituted forTavaresat 85′minutes
- 27Ferreira Silva
- 14SeferovicSubstituted forNúñezat 57′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Svilar
- 2Junior
- 7Sousa Soares
- 8Appelt Pires
- 9Núñez
- 10Waldschmidt
- 11Cervi
- 19Machado
- 38Delmino da Silva
- 71Tavares
- 88Matias Ramos
- 99Vlachodimos
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